Interdisciplinary Opportunities in the College of Arts and Sciences

Education in the 21st century is changing. It is evolving by virtue of not just new knowledge but entirely new fields of knowledge that require the capacity to solve complex problems by drawing on concepts, methods, and information from a plurality of disciplines. This increasingly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary knowledge is widely recognized as essential to the new employment opportunities in the emerging knowledge economy. To help prepare students for these opportunities, the College of Arts and Sciences offers the following interdisciplinary opportunities.

The Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor enable students to reflect
critically on how their educational efforts in the present will enable them to
engage in a process of life-long learning in relation to a future that might be
unimaginably different from the present. Students are encouraged to develop a
program of study that will advance current and future academic and career goals
as they pursue topics and questions beyond those addressed by UNF’s other
majors.

Interdisciplinary Studies provides students with the opportunity to design an individualized program of study that involves an intentional selection of coursework in more than one discipline. The central purpose of the Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor is for students to investigate a focused set of cross-disciplinary issues, problems, challenges, and methodologies and to develop expertise in key intellectual competencies, including but not limited to advanced writing and critical thinking skills.

How to Apply: Acceptance into the Interdisciplinary Studies major and the Interdisciplinary Studies minor requires that students first meet with the Program Advisor, Mr. Keith Martin, 904-620-2797.

Interdisciplinary Studies Major (36 Hours)

Students wishing to complete a major in Interdisciplinary Studies will select from one of the two available tracks:

Click on the links below to obtain more information on the requirements for each track.

The
International Studies Program endows students with knowledge of international
studies as a discipline and with the skills necessary to become effective
global citizens. The Departments of Economics and Geography, English, History,
Philosophy, Political Science and Public Administration, Sociology, Anthropology,
and Social Work, and Languages, Literatures and Cultures cooperatively provide
students with an interdisciplinary curriculum that captures the wide-ranging
historical, political, geographical, economic, social, and cultural forces at
play in an increasingly interdependent world. A required study abroad component
ensures that majors experience the world they study and cultures other than
their own.

*Please note: This is a daytime-only major. While many courses are offered as night courses, a student cannot complete the program solely at night. A selection of core courses is offered each semester, but each individual core course is generally offered once per year.

Click on the link below to obtain more information on the requirements for this major.

Religion has been the source of great human achievement and of much cultural conflict. The discipline of Religious Studies seeks to understand why and how this is the case. To this end, in courses that are taught from a variety of perspectives and disciplines (including religious studies proper, philosophy, anthropology, history, literary studies, and sociology), Religious Studies offers students an opportunity to explore a range of meaning-making systems—their beliefs, practices, texts, history, and social-cultural functions. In learning how seemingly foreign systems of meaning make sense to those who hold them, students are asked to make explicit their own assumptions about their religious beliefs, to look at their assumptions from the point of view of someone who does not share them, and thus to deepen their understanding of how their beliefs compare with the beliefs of others in relation to the course of human civilization.

Religious Studies Major (30 Credit Hours)

The Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies requires a total of 120 semester hours. Religious Studies majors take a total of 30 credit hours of coursework: 27 hours across four categories of courses—(i) foundations, (ii) methods, (iii) traditions, and (iv) topics—and 3 hours of a Senior Seminar Capstone course. Religious Studies majors are encouraged to participate in a study abroad experience.

Minors

African Diaspora/African American Studies (15 Hours). This
cross-disciplinary program is designed to promote the academic study of, as
well as a broad appreciation for, the diversity and richness of peoples and
cultures throughout the African Diaspora. Multidisciplinary methods of inquiry
and research give students a range of theoretical approaches to the central
questions and concerns of Diaspora studies—including race, culture, identity,
diversity, history, and society. Students examine these central concerns
through regional, national, and global perspectives. Additionally, students
have the opportunity to participate in internships, service learning, and study
abroad in order to bridge theory and praxis.

Asian Studies (15 Hours). This cross-disciplinary program is administered by the Department of History. It is designed to facilitate an academic concentration in South, Southeast, or East Asian civilization. Courses for this program come from a variety of Arts and Sciences departments.

Classical Civilization (15 Hours). The Classical Civilization minor is a cross-disciplinary program administered by the Department of History. The minor enables students to fashion a course of study imparting a broad yet coherent understanding of the civilization of ancient Greece and Rome. Courses for this program come from a variety of Arts and Sciences departments.

Environmental Studies (15 Hours).This
program focuses on understanding the nature and complexity of environmental
issues in relation to a range of issues, including the carrying capacity of our
planet, the idea of sustainability, the challenges of managing resources
wisely, the meaning of environmental stewardship, and the urgency of promoting
environmental literacy. Courses for this program come from a variety of Arts
and Sciences departments.

Film Studies (15 Hours). Why
study film? Because film is often considered the only new art form produced in
the 20th Century. Because the 21st Century has witnessed the explosion of
moving images into nearly every sphere of contemporary life, and advances in
technology have made film/video/audio technology widely and easily available.
Because film functions as a unique art form, a social barometer, a cultural
artifact, an historical record, a political argument, an agent of change, and a
good time. Because it is complex in construction and function, and yet directly
powerful in its effect. Because the reach of film is so wide, and because the
film minor thrives as a community when students come from varied perspectives
and fields of study. Courses for this program come from a variety of Arts and
Sciences departments.

Gender Studies (15 Hours). The
purpose of the Gender Studies minor is to provide interested students with an
opportunity to focus a portion of their college studies on issues related to
women's lives, culture and history, men's studies, and to the impact of gender
on human experience and behavior across a variety of disciplines. In particular,
the minor explores gender issues and experience and fosters educational equity.
It provides an opportunity for faculty and students alike to explore women's
changing social roles, experiences, problems, and contributions to society,
which have often been omitted in the traditional academic disciplines. Also
included in the gender studies minor is the growing new area of men's studies,
which focus on men as a sex and how gender impacts men's lives. Courses in the
Gender Studies minor investigate the full diversity of women's and men's
experience and gender issues. The minor provides opportunities for true
interdisciplinary learning, since the program requires students to take courses
from across college and university offerings.

International Studies (15 Hours). This
cross-disciplinary program enables undergraduate students to pursue a
comparative study of foreign cultures, languages, and societies. Courses come
from a wide range of departments (including but not limited to anthropology,
economics, geography, and political science) and involve a range of research methods.
Together these courses and their methodologies provide the framework for a
better understanding of global affairs. Students minoring in International
Studies must complete three of the five core courses required of the major and
two electives from within the same regional study track.

Religious Studies (15 Hours).Religion
has been the source of great human achievement and of much cultural conflict.
This cross-disciplinary minor seeks to understand why and how this is the case.
Courses taught from a variety of perspectives and disciplines offer students
opportunities to explore a range of meaning-making systems—including the
beliefs, practices, texts, history, and social-cultural functions that
constitute these systems. In learning how seemingly foreign systems of meaning
make sense to those who hold them, students are asked to make explicit their
own assumptions about their religious beliefs, to look at their assumptions
from the point of view of someone who does not share them, and thus to deepen
their understanding of how their beliefs compare with the beliefs of others in
relation to the course of human civilization. Students minoring in Religious Studies
must take REL 2300—Comparative Religion, REL 3102—Religion as Culture, and any
three upper level Religious Studies (REL) courses and/or courses offered by
other departments and approved for this minor.

Urban & Metropolitan Studies (15 Hours). The
world is becoming increasingly urban, and most human beings now make their
lives in cities. The Urban and Metropolitan Studies Minor allows students to
study cities and urban life from a variety of perspectives, examining where and
how cities form, the distinct kinds of problems faced by cities and urban
residents, and how scholars are pursuing these types of questions. Courses are
drawn from anthropology, history, political science, sociology, and other
fields.